The first Morse novel. The mystery was really well written. There were clues all along the way that could lead one on to the murderer but nothing definite- the ending was still something of a surprise. Definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the series. ( )

My mum watched a program on tv called Inspector Morse, a few years ago (I don't know when it was released). It's plot was based on the novels of the same name by Colin Dexter. My mum really enjoyed this program, so when she spotted the whole Inspector Morse collection for only a tenner on thebookpeople.com, she insisted I bought it (its only £5 now, if you're interested!). I am a massive Sherlock Holmes fan, so I hoped it would be of the same vein.

Alas it wasn't, where Sherlock is witty and sharp, Morse is rude and vulgar.

The plot in this novel is about a girl who is murdered one evening after hitchhiking a ride home with her friend. Morse spends a lot of time telling anyone who will listen that he knows who did it, and then being proven wrong. He treats the Sergeant, who he is working on the case with like dirt, and feels attracted to nearly every woman he interviews during the investigation.

The plotline itself wasn't that bad, Dexter kept you guessing as to who did it, with their being suspicion lingering around everyone. I do feel that a flaw in the plot was all the characters that Dexter kept introducing, there became so many that I struggled to keep track of who was who.

The major thing in this novel that I disliked was the characters, mainly Morse himself. To me he seemed quite old in this novel, late 50s in my mind, and he spent a good chunk of the novel flirting with, or going on dates with various suspects in the case. This jarred with me, as I really expect an Inspector to keep within certain boundaries when investigating a crime. Maybe this is just me being weird, but it felt wrong with me.

Apart from being a bit sleezy, Morse was also incredibly cocky, and childish, he would fly into terribly childish tantrums if things weren't going well.

The other characters weren't bad, but weren't really memorable at all. A few characters meet a rather sad and unfortunate end, which I won't mention just in case I spoil it for you. Also I didn't guess who had done it, so it was nice to be surprised at the end.

Overall I gave this novel 3/5, and I will pick up the next in the series (only because I own the whole series!) but I would be reluctant to recommend this as a mystery novel that anyone would enjoy. Maybe it was wrong of me to draw comparisons between Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Morse, as they are completely different. Maybe I was being to harsh on Morse, maybe it is better than I think, I guess you will have to read it to find out. In my mind, nobody can reach the writing masterpieces of Conan Doyle anyway! ( )

The first book in the series that brought us the great television series starring John Thaw as the irascible yet brilliant Inspector Morse, a spin-off with Inspector Lewis and a prequel series, Endeavour, leaves me, well, underwhelmed. As a police procedural it is okay but not something that will remain long in my memory. To its credit, the plot was sufficiently complex to keep me guessing, incorrectly, until the very end.

I expected Morse to be quirky yet brilliant. I guess he was that but there were times when I was tempted to replace the word quirky with something more along the lines of unhinged.

What struck me, and other readers that I talked to, most about the book is that Dexter's treatment of gender issues is far from enlightened. Granted, it was written in the 1970s but I came of age back then and I don't remember the people I encountered being quite so -neanderthal - as the characters in this book are. Their thoughts about rape are frightening and the old idea that women who act or dress in a certain manner deserve what they get is, if not said outright, at least inferred more than once. One can make certain allowances for when a book was written but there are limits.

And if all that isn't enough, Morse doesn't even drive his signature burgundy Jaguar! He drives a beat-up old Lancia, whatever the heck that is.

I'm not sure at this point if I will read more Morse books. If I do, I will probably skip forward to a point where Collins writing, and Morse's character, are better developed.

My thanks to M.L. and the The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group at Goodreads for creating the opportunity to read and discuss this book with other readers. ( )

Good enough for this kind of genre thing. People were reading it because they saw a TV version but I just read it because other people were reading it. Though perfectly fine of its type, I don't know why people have to make a big deal over it. Maybe if I read more Inspector Morse I'd get into it more. ( )

Wikipedia in English (1)

"[Morse is] the most prickly, conceited, and genuinely brilliant detective since Hercule Poirot."--The New York Times Book Review"YOU DON'T REALLY KNOW MORSE UNTIL YOU'VE READ HIM. . . . Viewers who have enjoyed British actor John Thaw as Morse in the PBS Mystery! anthology series should welcome the deeper character development in Dexter's novels."--Chicago Sun-Times

Beautiful Sylvia Kaye and another young woman had been seen hitching a ride not long before Sylvia's bludgeoned body is found outside a pub in Woodstock, near Oxford. Morse is sure the other hitchhiker can tell him much of what he needs to know. But his confidence is shaken by the cool inscrutability of the girl he's certain was Sylvia's companion on that ill-fated September evening. Shrewd as Morse is, he's also distracted by the complex scenarios that the murder set in motion among Sylvia's girlfriends and their Oxford playmates. To grasp the painful truth, and act upon it, requires from Morse the last atom of his professional discipline."Few novelists write books as intelligent and deliciously frightening as those by Colin Dexter. . . . What Mr. Dexter does so well, so brilliantly, is weave a thick, cerebral story chock-full of literary references and clever red herrings."--The Washington Times"A MASTERFUL CRIME WRITER WHOM FEW OTHERS MATCH."--Publishers Weekly

Beautiful Sylvia Kaye and another young woman had been seen hitching a ride not long before Sylvia's bludgeoned body is found outside a pub in Woodstock near Oxford. Morse is sure the other hitchhiker can tell him much of what he needs to know. But his confidence is shaken by the cool inscrutability of the girl he's certain was Sylvia's companion on that ill-fated September evening. Shrewd as Morse is he's also distracted by the complex scenarios that the murder set in motion among Sylvia's girlfriends and their Oxford playmates.… (more)